The Returning Storm
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: Arashi was a first-class battler, until an injury made her quit. A year later, she's meandering through life with a small berry garden and a Pidgeotto that refused to leave her side. But when a deaf Oddish appears and refuses to die, she realises she may have quit too quick. And the journey after shows the law of the battlers isn't all there is to the world she lives in.
1. Sounds of Deafness

**A/N: **Written for the Diversity Writing Challenge, Section J (20,000 – 49,000 words), prompt #27 – write an OC centric fic.

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**The Returning Storm  
1\. Sounds of Deafness**

Arashi isn't particularly fond of the Oddish that find their way into her garden, but they're better than the bugs sometimes there. But grass type or bug: it doesn't really matter when her sharp eyed Pidgeotto can pluck them from between leaves and eat his fill somewhere out of her sight.

Otherwise those Oddish or the various bug types that creep in will eat her garden dry, and she can't have that. It's her life now, after all. Growing a little garden with a few varieties of berries and watching with her Pidgeotto from the days of old still by her side. Too well trained to be a garden guard, really, but Pidgeotto goes where Arashi goes and, for now, Arashi's not going anywhere.

Once upon a time they'd travelled together, but that was a thing of the past. Now, her life was growing berries, making sure they weren't prematurely eaten by wild Pokemon. Then she picks the berries and sends them with Pidgeotto to a herb-maker just over the hills, at a price cheaper than the main markets in town. It's not the most fulfilling work, particularly when she has no love for growing things. But there's not much else she can do for a living, and it's enough to keep on living.

Pidgeotto shrieks outside: a sound that, to her ears, is just above a whisper. It was an odd sound initially, but she's gotten used to it. She's gotten used to staying still as well. Gotten used to the difference between her Pidgeotto's "I've caught a snack" shriek and his "there's an intruder" shriek – because there is no need for a "there's a visitor" shriek because she never gets visitors – and his "I'm in pain" shriek.

That is his "I've caught a snack" shriek, so she leaves it alone and continues with her knitting: another one of those things she really is too young for, but is easy to do and passes the time well enough. And the more things she can knit, the less she has to send Pidgeotto into town for. And if she ever gets good enough to try and sell those as well, so can get the power connected and get a computer or something.

But she'd gotten good at passing time without things like that. Just like she's gotten good at not wrecking the garden by training her Pokemon for battles she's never have again. Just like she's gotten used to not having her other Pokemon around anymore…but she's sure they're happy somewhere, battling to their heart's content or being the wild Pokemon they'd been before she'd caught them.

But not Pidgeotto. That stubborn bird insists on staying with her, and she doesn't exactly have the manpower to drive away a bird who comes almost up to her shoulder at standing height. And she might have been lonely without him…but it would have been fine like that as well, she thinks.

She continues knitting, with only the ash coloured walls to listen to the soft clicks of her needles against each other.

**.**

Pidgeotto rips off the Weedle's poisonous horn and crushes it underfoot, then gulps down the rest of the body and gives a content squawk. He honestly preferred Caterpie because they didn't come with the poisonous horn, but Weedle were next to harmless anyway. Still, he preferred the few extra seconds and care it took to rip off the horn than having one, by rotten luck, scratch his throat and give him a bad case of poisoning.

He's done that a few times, soon after settling down in that little cottage and garden with his trainer, but not since then. He's gotten good at picking out and eating his fill of those little bugs, while before they'd have caught a big prey and shared. It doesn't suit him, per say. No more than it suits his trainer, but it's easy for him. If he's hungry and prey doesn't conveniently encroach his property, there's never a shortage of bug and grass types in the forest. If he's restless, there's never a shortage of sky. And he can still come back to his trainer, and help her out.

She'd been reluctant originally, but she'd caved eventually. Or given up. He didn't like that. He still doesn't. He's not too impressed with his once-comrades either, but he realises it's not so easy for them, stuck to the ground, to get in breaks from a suddenly monotonous life. Not like he who can cover a sixty mile radius in comfort.

Whatever battles he gets into in that wider world are done far out of the sight of his trainer. The Pokemon who wander into the garden are weak: weak enough to be attracted by the scent of the berries but unrepelled by the smell of the human that grew them or the bird of prey that guarded them. The slightly stronger and wiser Pokemon knew to stay away, to stick to the berry bushes that grew without care in the forests. The strongest ones were equally fools, but they were rare. Maybe once a year a Teddiursa would evolve into an Ursaring and think it can crush the barrier between him and carefully bred berries.

Pidgeotto can spot them coming from miles away, and puts a stop to them before they can get near the garden. He lets the smaller, harmless ones in. It's more fun to try and pick them out of the leaves. And it's good when his trainer's there as well, because then he can see her face twist into annoyance and her scent subtly change. She looks more lively like that. A little less each time he did it though. She was getting used to that.

And, somehow, it didn't have quite the same effect eating a raw catch in front of her. Probably because she'd had so much experience with that, back in the days they'd been travelling and training in the wild together. But those days were done and dusted and probably never coming back.

He's not sure he's fine with that, but he can deal with it. And he can squawk as loud as he wants and no-one will really care. The louder the better, really.

He squawks again, for no good reason except to send a few Caterpie trying to sneak up scurrying away. There was still an Oddish in the garden, last he saw. He was going to fill a little more his stomach up with that.

**.**

Arashi feels a sudden throb in her right temple and she drops the needles and leans back on the couch, closing her eyes. It doesn't quite make it better, but it's more comfortable that way. And if she gets dizzy, she doesn't have to worry about falling down. And it's not like she's in a hurry to open her eyes again either.

But it fades in a bit, and what restless spirit still lingers makes her open her eyes again. The light is too bright for a moment, even though it's afternoon and a slightly cloudy day, but her eyes adjust to it and she picks up her knitting needles.

A few loops have come out, and she sighs and carefully pokes them back in. Before, they'd have made her start all over, but she's gotten the hang of fixing it now. It's far easier than trying to save food that's been dropped on the floor – but knitting isn't as important as food either. She's not so quick to abandon food. Only if she can't hold on to it any longer.

There is a squawk from outside again: a warning this time. When it follows Arashi stands carefully and goes to the window. It's an Oddish, walking calmly through the grass to the berry trees. Pidgeotto is perched on the fence and glaring sourly.

He usually doesn't bother catching them unless they're in the garden soil, and the Oddish was still in the grass. But shes seen so many Pokemon flee at the sound of Pidgeotto's squawk that it surprised her this one is still calmly walking on.

She is even more surprised when Pidgeotto leaves his perch and, hovering just behind the Oddish, squawks again, a little louder.

When the Oddish still doesn't react, Pidgeotto pecks at his little blue body. Then the Oddish squeals and spins around, the leaves on its back bending backwards. And when it takes in the bird of prey that had snuck up on it, it makes a whimpering noise and falls on its back.

Pidgeotto lowers his beak for the catch – and then reels back as he is hit by a sudden burst of petals.

'Petal dance?' Arashi mouths to herself, surprised. Or some sound might have come out. She wasn't sure. It was too quiet for her herself to make out.

But she can't miss the blur of pink and red petals that send her Pidgeotto stumbling back. Definitely a Petal Dance. A Petal Dance from a surprisingly high levelled Oddish.

Pidgeotto screeches in pain. Grass type moves aren't particularly effective against flying types like him, but they can still hurt. And Pidgeotto is out of training. It's gotten unused to receiving attacks like that.

But it still annoys him. It's obvious in the way he shoots several feet in the air. 'Fly,' Arashi guesses, as Pidgeotto comes back down like a bullet.

He slams the Oddish into the ground with enough force to make the little cottage house shake.

And Arashi mightn't be fond of Oddish at all, but she can still feel a little pity for the crushed form Pidgeotto is picking himself off of.

But that is the world of Pokemon, and battles. There isn't room for everyone to try and live. The weak are crushed and buried. The slightly stronger ones are wise enough to run and hide until they are stronger still. And the strongest of them all fight: fight until they are victorious, captured, or dead.

Humans are perhaps a little wiser…and weaker.


	2. Moonlight and Catch

**The Returning Storm  
2\. Moonlight and Catch**

Arashi goes out that evening, once the sun has gone down and dinner needs to be made, for a few berries. Pidgeotto can eat them raw, of course, but he prefers to not when he can bug his trainer for them instead, and it's a mix of duty and gratefulness that makes Arashi obey those sharp claws of his and make him food. Pellets, mostly, but sometimes she'll make poffins instead, or macaroons, or poke block. All little things she'd picked up on travels. All parts of the past she'd mostly left behind, but dug themselves out at random points in time.

She goes out and expects she'll have to rake the Oddish's dead body out of the ground and toss it in the bin of Pidgeotto hasn't eaten it first before she goes back in. But that's not what she finds. She finds the Oddish all right, but there's a sort of dusty glow about it and it doesn't look as crushed as Pidgeotto's normal victims. The bird himself is napping on the bench, but lifts his head from out under his wing when Arashi laughs. 'Moonlight.' Her shears and basket tumble. She'd been planning on making poke blocks today. 'Moonlight. That resourceful, stubborn little – '

Pidgeotto understood, and he squawked angrily before ducking his head under wing again. The Oddish had cheated death by his beak and claws. But there was an undertone of respect. To know both Moonlight and Petal Dance meant it was at least level 51. To remember Moonlight meant it was either very determined to live or had a clever trainer. Maybe he hasto have had a trainer, to have reached that level and not evolved, Arashi thinks. How can a pokemon reach such a high level without evolving otherwise?

Which begs the question as to why it's wondered into her garden, so far from civilisation. 'Do you have a trainer?' she asks.

It's a silly time to ask, because the Oddish hasn't finished repairing its body and thus doesn't have a mouth. Arashi regards it again. It's healing, slowly. It's…stubborn is the only word she can put to it. Stubborn. Or resilient, perhaps.

It'll heal itself and wander off, she thinks. Wander right out of her garden, or Pidgeotto will have a go at it again in the morning when the Oddish crosses another metaphorical line. She'll catch it if it happens like that, she thinks. Pidgeotto's attacks aren't the ground zero style. He's got nothing that'll take out every single cell and because he can't, the Oddish will regenerate with Moonlight again and again and again…

She collects her berries and goes inside. She hopes the Oddish does leave by morning. Or she tells herself she does.

**.**

Pidgeotto's screeching wakes her up in the morning. Arashi opens her windows and the sun is glaring harshly – a harshness she can see in full and not appreciate, because her eyesight is as sharp as it ever was, if not sharper. It's just her hearing that's dull. And her brain.

'That better not be Sunny Day,' she thinks. She'll cook the Oddish in her pot if it is. In general, trainers aren't meat-eaters though there are a few oddballs in the bunch. But she's not a trainer. Not anymore. Not since she's got knocked on the head and can't be trusted to walk on her own two feet out in the wilderness that's dangerous enough for anyone whose head is screwed on straight.

At least she has the medical leave to live on her own and manage her little garden. Or with Pidgeotto at least. Doesn't have to worry about noises she can't hear but matter. Doesn't have to worry about a wild pokemon coming upon her when she's fallen down or has her back turned and all her pokemon are in their poke balls and unable to protect her. Doesn't need to worry about having a brief dizzy spell during battle and getting fried by an attack she should have been able to side step.

Then again, she should have been able to side step the Hammer Arm that had knocked her in the head as well.

She purses her lips and draws the curtains again. Thoughts like that make her feel angry, feel bitter. Thoughts like that make her want to go back to battling and she can't. She can't because it's dangerous and she's not suicidal. She can't because she'll never get the medical leave for it. She's a permanent disability. She can't because she's got her little berry garden to deal with, and the herb-maker will just make do with the markets or find another garden and never come back to her if she doesn't do her job and it's a job of necessity anyway.

It's the Oddish's fault, she thinks. It had better be gone.

But it's not. It's there and it's Pidgeotto's angry squawking that fills the lawn and a dusty powder that stops her short on the step. Pidgeotto is flying above it, of course. He's sharp enough to not fall for that. But he hasn't blown it away. It's there and it's covering the lawn and it's taunting him. Taunting them.

Arashi grits her teeth. 'Gust!' she yells. She can hear her own voice clearly. 'Blow it away!'

It's not even Poison Powder. It's Sleep Powder. _Sleep._ Insulting, really.

Pidgeotto looks over at her and obeys. The Oddish looks as well, after Pidgeotto. Hadn't reacted to the shout at all, but to Pidgeotto's gaze being called.

It makes an odd sound suddenly, something that doesn't sound like a normal Oddish at all.

Arashi frowns at it. 'Well?' she asked, her tone dropping to normal levels and barely a whisper to her ears. 'Scram.'

The Oddish just looks curiously at her, then inches closer. Pidgeotto squawks a warning which goes ignored – or unheard. It ignores Arashi's stern face until it is almost at the fallen step, and then it stops. It makes that odd sound again. Gurgling, almost.

For some reason, Arashi finds herself wondering just what's wrong with the Oddish.

But there's no Pokemon Centre at her doorstep and it's not her Oddish anyway. And she's not a trainer that's duty bound to help any pokemon her own aren't chasing after. But it's staring at her, and Pidgeotto's not squawking anymore for some bizzare reason of his own.

The sun's still painfully bright, and Arashi decides she'll leave the two Pokemon to do what they want and turns to go inside. But a wave of vertigo grabs her and she has to sit down again. Pidgeotto squawks out a warning, as though that'll stop Arashi from turning an ankle if she puts her foot in the wrong place. But she doesn't and sits down okay and the Oddish flips itself up the step with its leaves and stares at her.

'Go away,' she mutters to it. The Oddish looked at her. 'Geeze, can't you understand what I say?' She swipes at the Oddish and it back away and tumbles off the steps, looking crushed. She blinks at that. 'I'm no trainer,' she tells it. 'It's a boring life here. Go somewhere else.'

It doesn't, though it looks at her warily for a while. They stay like that – a stalemate – and then the Oddish breaks it by coming closer again. Its leaves caress her fingers.

Once upon a time, Arashi would have smiled at the gesture. Once upon a time, she might've caught the Oddish as well. And let it go afterwards if it continued to disobey her like that. Continue to not listen to her at all.

For the first time, she wonders if it's because it can't listen to her. But that's ridiculous. No way a deaf Pokémon would have turned out so strong.

But, suddenly, her curiosity is piqued and she needs to know if the Oddish really is deaf.

She stands up. She's still a little dizzy but the vertigo is gone so she goes inside, goes to the box of things from her trainer's day she'd packed and shoved under the bed because it hurts to look at it.

But she'd had a lot of supplies from those days. Ready to continue on the road before it suddenly became an impossibility.

**.**

For the first time in two years, she holds a poke ball in her hands. It feels big in her hands. Before they'd fit almost perfectly. Goes to show how long it's been, she thinks. But she's curious and the only way to get answers is to capture the Pokemon and then send it to the Pokemon Centre.

Or take it herself, but Pidgeotto could run that errand for her.

But she's not going to just throw the ball. Maybe it'll work. Maybe it won't. But Pidgeotto is there so why waste a poke ball by doing that? 'Gust!' she shouts at Pidgeotto and Pidgeotto is eager, though a tad slow compared to the good old days, to obey. The Oddish doesn't dodge it. It's not prepared, and it tries to send what looks like a Mega Drain skyward but the bird takes off from the fence and evades.

Mega Drain, Petal Dance, Moonlight and Sleep Powder. So it's not the Oddish making the sun shine lie that, Arashi thinks. And it's a good move pool too. Two attacking moves. Two healing moves. One move to help catch things – but it's a trainer's move. Not much use to an wild Oddish on its own, and Moonlight is a trainer's move as well. Pokemon can learn a move like that or Synthesis naturally, but they don't bother with it in the wild. They respect the flow of life there. They respect the fact that their time will come, but the ones with trainers sometimes feel like they can live for something more. Like they _want _to live for something more.

She orders a Steel Wing to just toss the grass pokemon into the air because Fly will just crush the Oddish again and then she'll have to wait half the night before it's healed enough to be caught. She's actually surprised the Gust didn't render it immobile. Flying moves are super-effective after all. And an unevolved Pokemon's defence stats can't be all that great.

Oddish goes with a gurgled sound into the air and Arashi lobs the ball at it before it hits the ground.

She misses, and curses. Pidgeotto hits it with his wing as though they were in a Pokeringer contest and this time it hits the Oddish in the belly.

The ball falls to the ground, rocks gently with its centre blinking madly, then stills. There might have been a soft 'bling' as well. There should have been, but Arashi doesn't hear it any more.

In any case, she's caught an Oddish now. 'To the Pokemon Centre,' she orders, and Pidgeotto picks it up and waits until she's inside again and the door is closed before flying off.

And she has a chance to think of what she's just done.


End file.
